Does hikikomori (or equivalent) also exist in Western culture?

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L7. D4N 23. Feb. um 3:27

They always frame this as a Japanese thing since that is where you first hear that term but the same phenomenon can happen anywhere (they don't call it hikikomori), like isolating themselves from society, being in their own room.

Part of me thinks it's because that it's an easier jab for them to focus on (non-Western) countries upon discussing it on media while the same thing can happen in where they live but refuse to address it, why is that the case?

Zuletzt bearbeitet von L7. D4N; 23. Feb. um 3:29

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Beiträge 1–15 von 28

ガストセフィロス 23. Feb. um 3:35

It does exist, and as for why, not sure, could be something as stupid as bullheadedness.

Fake 23. Feb. um 3:40

Yes. Same goes for NEETs in the USA. They are just known by another name, Gamers.

sleeps 23. Feb. um 3:41

i suppose that if remote jobs are possible, perhaps something like this is possible. to make it less miserable, they can exercise and perhaps at least go outside to buy groceries and return home like nothing happened

ᶻ𝗓𐰁 23. Feb. um 3:57

Yes, it was a trend that started in Japan. All social problems that start in Japan soon find their way West.

ᶻ𝗓𐰁 23. Feb. um 3:59

I watched a show a long time ago. One boy sat in a tiny dark room and his mother would leave food outside of his door and he would eat the food and leave the dish out side the door. That was the only interaction he had in the world. He wasn't even playing games, watching TV or reading. He just stayed in a dark room with no clothes on.

Aluvard 23. Feb. um 4:02

Ursprünglich geschrieben von ᶻ𝗓𐰁:
I watched a show a long time ago. One boy sat in a tiny dark room and his mother would leave food outside of his door and he would eat the food and leave the dish out side the door. That was the only interaction he had in the world. He wasn't even playing games, watching TV or reading. He just stayed in a dark room with no clothes on.

Sounds like heavy depression.

THE LORD 23. Feb. um 4:03

A lot of americans are that mori mori thing.

TGC> The Games Collector 23. Feb. um 4:04

Nah.

Out here in the west we simply have a mysterious loneliness epidemic that totally came out of nowhere, blindsiding society entirely.

Pixie 23. Feb. um 4:05

Hermits have been around so long they have their own tarot card ^-^

Kamiyama 23. Feb. um 4:44

Not really. The "adult child living in their parents basement" meme is probably the closest. While people are waiting until they're older to move out, most people in the USA still have to go outside and work a job to support themselves.

Hikkikomori exists in Japan because they provide people with housing assitance. Housing is much cheaper in Japan than in most other countries, and on top of that they have services like public housing for low income people and financial assistance that can be applied for. It's very possible for people in Japan to live inside a home that is paid for and never have to leave to work a job. Convenience store foods like ramen are super cheap, so if they can scrape together enough money for food that's all they need to leave the house for.

It's not like that in the USA. Everything is super expensive, there is little public assistance, and if you don't work you will quickly become homeless.

Then there is this twisted culture here where the well-off people convince themselves that the USA doesn't have a homeless problem, and that if you're homeless there is something wrong with you and you deserve to suffer. So there isn't really any help from the rich or the government to solve the problem. Police will raid homeless encampments, destroy their tents, assault them and arrest them, and basically drive them away from communities of homeowners that don't want to see them around.

Japan has a more "we're all in this together" mentality and while on one hand you are expected to conform and western people don't like that, for Japanese citizens if you conform and meet expectations there's also the other side of the equation where they are much more helpful and community oriented. That helpfulness just doesn't exist here. I've seen videos of people dropping money on the ground in Japan and the crowd will stop to help them pick it up and hand it over. If you dropped money on the ground in NYC, the crowd would steal it, and you might even get mugged. Like they would punch you after stealing your money, just for good measure.

#10

Kamiyama 23. Feb. um 4:47

I'm not saying the USA doesn't have public housing and low income assistance, but those services are so pathetic they don't address even a tenth of the problem.

You can apply for all the financial aid and still end up in debt here. Easily.

#11